Stress
by Torishu
Summary: Haruno Sakura is having troubles understanding her feelings, after returning from a successful three year mission. Major GenSaku, Ita saku Minor Sasusaku
1. Prologue

Forgive me if the age differences are wrong, I got the information from an Itachi-hatin friend. 'tachi-kun might be a bit OOC but, I tried... -huggles itachi plushie-

So anyway, On with my fic. I guess I should do a disclaimer...

**Disclaimer:**

Naruto's not mine. If it was, I'd be very VERY rich.

I just like to play with them...

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A thin trail of water trailed after where her tiny feet had just glided over the constantly thinning ice. Dozens of happy children slid past each other, laughing as they bumped into one other.

Sliding over to the side of the lake, the pink haired little girl took a seat on the banks of the frozen lake. She sighed. Unfortunately, soon the ice would be too thin to skate on.

She had always loved ice skating, it was one of her favorite things to do. Although it aggravated her quite a bit that there were always a lot of people around whenever she wanted to skate. She was only eight, but she still needed time to think, and when she was on the ice was her favorite time to do it.

Her green eyes followed the handsome young Ukiah as he skillfully skated over the ice. He was so mysterious. Come to think of it, the only reason he was even there was most likely because his mother had told him to. He was always training, and she never saw him do anything for fun.

She heard a deep voice behind her.

"Sasuke. It's almost time for dinner. Let's go."

She looked behind herself to see an attractive older boy, probably around fourteen or fifteen, sitting higher up on the hill. He was probably Sasuke's brother, because there was a very strong resemblance between the two.

She had had a crush on Sasuke for a while now, but when she compared the two Uchiha brothers she couldn't help noticing how much more attractive the elder was.

Maybe... maybe it ran in the family...

She watched as Sasuke obediently sat on the snowy bank and removed his skates.

Sakura sighed. Soon all the others would be leaving for their homes too. She usually stayed behind until the other kids all went home, but the time it took for them to actually leave seemed like forever.

She watched as masses of children began to take off their skates and return home to their waiting parents. She remained sitting in her spot, twisting thin a strand of her pastel pink locks around her delicate finger in boredom.

She usually stayed here late to skate alone. Her parents never really cared when she came home, it wasn't as if they didn't love her, but they never really worried about her like most parents usually did. They lived in a hidden country, filled with skillfull ninja that would surely help her if anything were ever to happen.

She watched as last kid, Inuzuka Kiba, trudged away.

Standing, she gracefully glided onto the now empty ice. When she was on the ice, all sense of time and space disappeared. No worries, no problems, no fights with Ino, just peace and quiet.

Suddenly, she noticed that it was now dusk, and she was shivering. It hadn't seemed like much time had passed, but apparently, it had. With a yawn she made her way to the snow covered grass, and lay on the gently sloped bank. She laid there, staring into the sky, watching the stars begin to shine, just as she had done for the last few previous months.

"You're here awfully late." A masculine voice stated, piercing her thoughts.

Sakura turned around quickly to see the elder Uchiha, who was sitting in the exact same spot he'd been in earlier, above her.

"How long have you been here?" She asked, a bit irked that he had been there and she hadn't even noticed.

"A while." He smirked, as if daring her to ask more.

"Oh..." fell from her lips. She couldn't think of anything else to say so she turned herself back around and laid her head on the snowy grass, with her scarf wadded up like a pillow, beneath her head. She silently watched the slowly dimming sky. She had decided that wouldn't bother her, it was Sasuke's brother after all.

The little girl found her mind wondering why he was there, and when he was going to leave. He didn't exactly bother her, actually it was refreshing to have some company that didn't constantly chew her ears off, especially someone so attractive, but her curiosity was eating away at her.

XxXxXxX

After darkness had fallen so deeply that it was hard to see, Sakura stood, her skates dangling from her small fingers. She noticed his eyes following her as she walked past him, so her childlike curiosity kicked in and she stopped.

"May I ask you a question?" She whispered timidly.

"...What?" He asked after a slight pause.

"What's your name?" She asked, encouraged that he would answer her question.

"Uchiha Itachi."

"I'm Haruno Sakura." She said, still facing away from him. Smiling to herself, she whispered "Goodnight Itachi..." as she walked away.

He smirked. This girl intrigued him, she was quite peculiar. He could sense that she had the potential to become quite powerful, if the right steps were taken.

The sense of that feeling of power was what had caught his attention earlier. Well that, and her vibrant tresses.

He had been surprised to see her still here when he had returned. It was certainly one of the last things he had expected.

This place was his. It had been since he had become a ninja. It was his sort of sanctuary, a place where he could think. Except when it annually became a breeding ground for all of those pests. He was tempted to frighten them, but he resisted. _He_ had certainly never been like those children.

It was surprising to see a child among them such as Sakura, she was surprisingly mature, more mature than Sasuke.

As she grew older, the peer-pressure would undoubtedly weaken her. She had the potential be so powerful, but amid all the other females she would undoubtedly be corrupted by frivolous things such as her appearance. It was a waste, yet, he couldn't help but be drawn to her personality.

Haruno was an interesting girl. Very interesting.

xXxXxXx

Sakura found herself on the ice once again, the next day. There were considerably less children present, she supposed it was because their parents were worried about them falling through the constantly thinning ice.

Sasuke was not present today, and neither was his mysterious older brother. Sakura couldn't help but wonder if he would come again that night.

She was terribly interested to learn more about this boy.

xXxXxXx

Just as she had last night, she lay on the bank, somewhat more aware of her surroundings, but relaxed. Perhaps he'd had only come on a whim last night.

After dusk began to fade into deep darkness, the tiny girl decided to ice skate a bit more before she went home.

Beginning with a few laps to build up her speed, she preformed a trick she had been wanting to try.

Unbeknownst to her, Itachi was sitting on the limb of a tall tree, which stretched out over the lake. He watched as she spun four times in the air and landed on her feet perfectly.

_Impressive, for a normal eight year old._

Sakura scowled, she had been trying for six times around.

Building up speed once again, she leapt in the air, spun five times, landed on her feet perfectly, only to hear an ear-splitting crack.

She felt the ground disappear beneath her as she fell into the freezing water. A overwhelming feeling of panic overcame her, and she struggled frantically to reach the surface, only to run into solid ice. Terror overcame her as the last bit of oxygen left her lungs as she sputtered in the water.

Suddenly, from her left, she felt a pair of strong hands wrap around her waist, and then she lost consciousness.

XxXxXxX

She awoke to a large, dimly lit room. Turning her head slowly, she took in her surroundings. She didn't recognize anything. Where was she?

Suddenly, a pleasant looking woman with dark hair walked into the room, carrying a tray of food.

"I'm glad you're awake, how are you feeling?" She asked with a smile.

She was about to ask who the lady was but remembered her manners. "... I'm okay. I've got a bit of a h-headache but other than that I-I'm fine... Where am I? What happened?"

"This..." She said, smiling and handing her the tray, "Is for you. I'm not exactly sure what happened but as I have come to understand it, you fell into the lake while you were ice skating and Itachi, my son, rescued you. You're at my house now, in the spare bedroom. You've been unconscious for about six hours now. Don't worry, I've told your parents where you are. Is there anything else you would like to know?" She asked, still smiling.

"Um... " She paused, taking it all in, "Where is Itachi?"

"He had to leave on a mission last night. He should be back sometime next week."

"Oh... okay."

"Well, if you think you're up to it, you're free to go."

"Thank you" Sakura said standing up with a bow.

As she strode down the hallway to the door, Sasuke turned into the hallway. He looked up at her and scowled.

_Didn't he realize that just made him cuter? _

XxXxXxX

She dozed off, as she had done everynight this week, in the place next to the pond.

She was waiting for him. She couldn't help it; she felt an uncontrollable need to see him. Undoubtedly, she would have died if not for him.

It was beginning to get warmer, but it was still quite chilly outside. Her eyes drifted shut as she thought of the cherry blossoms that would be blooming soon. She loved cherryblossoms. She wasn't sure why. Maybe was because they were her namesake, or just because of the sheer beauty of the petals as they floated in the breeze.

Suddenly. she felt something fall over her like a blanket. She opened her eyes to see the tall Uchiha walking away.

"Good-bye Sakura" She heard him whisper.

"Wait. I wanted to tha-." She whispered softly.

"We will not meet again for a very long time." He interrupted.

"Are you leaving?" She asked.

"Yeah... Something like that." He whispered as he disappeared into the night.

"Goodnight Itachi... " She whispered, silently adding an _I'll miss you,_ as she hugged the vest that he had thrown on top of her.

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That was the last time she saw Uchiha Itachi for a long time.

A few months later, The Uchiha Massacre occurred.

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Hmmm... This began as a one shot but I think I may continue... When she's older. I dunno. Maybe.

Thanks for reading

Please review, I live off of those things.

-Trishy-chan


	2. Chapter1

I decided to head this in a different direction than I was going to at first thought, well besides the one-shot thing... I hope you enjoy anyway.

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The tall blonde laughed flirtasously as she waved at a handsome jounin.

The Hyuuga heiress blushed as a shrill whistle was heard.

Sakura rolled her sparkling green eyes.

They hadn't been back in Konoha five minutes, and already people were staring. Of course they looked different, but it _had _been three years after all, what did they expect?

Before the three kunoichi had left for their mission, they'd had to take classes from more... mature kunoichi in the category of seduction, and that, of course altered their natural behavior. They had also had to make changes to their appearance. Sakura's hair had been dyed black, Hinata had been given a surplus of red contacts, and Ino had been assigned to use her gifts and go out and find some more... revealing clothing for them all. Tsunade, Kurenai, and Anko had had the time of their lives giving the girls a make over. Then, after moving to Sunagakure, they'd played the role of three sisters, looking to start a new life after the tragic fire that had killed both of their parents. But the mission had been to find out as much as possible about a group of business men who the kazekage suspected of laundering illegal drugs. Gaara had asked for Konoha kunoichi because these men had an extreme liking of women, and the men knew each female in Suna, kunoichi or not. The females were instructed to play their role for at least a year before becoming as close to the men as possible, by whatever means they could. They all became paired up with one of the many suspects. Unfortunately, Hinata couldn't force herself to let a man she didn't love touch her, so Ino and Sakura handled that part themselves. After building up their trust, the plan began working, and under some unfortunate circumstances, one of now proven criminals was killed. But basically, it had been a successful mission and here they were, three years later, back in Konoha.

_I can't wait to see Shikamaru's face_. Ino smirked at the thought. Over the duration of their time away from Konoha, Ino had realized how much she missed her lazy teammate. As she knocked on the door to the Hokage's office, she was plotting on the best way to greet and surprise him.

"Well hello ladies, long time no see, I've been expecting you." Tsunade slurred. "I heard the mission was a success. Good job." The Hokage gestured to three chairs in front of her desk as she spoke. "You've all grown up... what are you now, nineteen? Now... tell me everything."

Sakura saw two sake bottles sitting on the kage's desk, one empty, and one half empty.

This was going to take a while...

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That had been three days ago...

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Nodding towards the secretary sitting at the main desk, Sakura grabbed the stack of mail that had been sitting in her mailbox for the past few days. She was in a good mood. She was finally home. It felt a bit awkward to be stepping into her new office, because today was her first day at the job she had been promised at sixteen. However, her thoughts of putting her new knowledge she had acquired while abroad in action were extinguished as she saw that her desk was already beginning to be covered by piles of paperwork. With a sigh, she removed the mandatory white coat from the coat hanger and slipped it over her shoulders, thankful that it hid her clothing. She took a seat at her desk and began sorting through the many papers spread across her desk.

Her gaze rose towards the door as a familiar face stepped inside.

"Ah you're here. Do you like your office?" Tsunade asked, shutting the door behind her.

"It's wonderful Tsunade-sama, I just need to get used to the lack of windows." Sakura smiled.

"You'll eventually become grateful for the privacy, believe me. The door to your left is your own examination room. Oh, this speaker right here is to call in your secretary, you share her with Nanahara. If you ever need her, she usually works the desk in this floor's lobby. You probably met her on your way in."

"Those papers? They're only medical files. All you need to do is make sure their filled out, and sign them. Except these aren't yours. These are..." She paused looking them over for a moment... "They're Nanahara's... You just put those in your "Out" bin and they'll get to her. I don't know why they're on your desk though..." Tsunade explained, "You only need to do this when you treat a patient. It's only a technicality." She said, opening a tall file cabinet to Sakura's left and showing her the papers and the brightly colored labels telling her what kind of injury each paper was for.

"I... see." Sakura murmured. "So what am I doing today?"

"Well... I wasn't expecting you to come to work so soon after your mission, but here is a list of your co-workers. Maybe you could introduce yourself to all of the personnel while you're waiting for a patient to come in. I think I have a routine check-up scheduled in fifteen minutes that I'm sure you can handle." Tsunade smirked to herself, causing Sakura to feel a bit uneasy. "Oh! I almost forgot! This..." Tsunade said, pulling out a small, black, rectangular device out of her pocket, "Is a beeper, it's to stay on you at all times, even when you're off the work hours, in case of an emergency." Tsunade said, handing her the beeper. "And that's it for now. Think you can handle it?"

"Of course" Sakura smiled thankfully.

"Are you sure you don't want to go shopping, or anything?" Tsunade asked, obviously commenting on her clothing choice.

_Don't look at me! You're the one who bought them for me. _"No. I'm fine. I like these clothes." She smiled sarcastically sweet.

"Ha ha, why you've grown into quite a little smart ass, haven't you? I'll be in my office if you need anything." Tsunade said, laughing as she shut the door behind herself.

Sitting back in her rolling-chair, she unfolded the crisp sheet of paper Tsunade had handed her. With a glance, she recognized very few of the names listed.

With a sigh, she stood and stepped out into the hallway and made her way back to the lobby, she might as well try. The first person that caught her eye was the same secretary, sitting at her desk with her head in her hand, drawing on a pad of paper. The woman had seemed friendly enough earlier, and looked to be close to her own age, so Sakura resolved to try to become friends with her.

"Excuse me..." Sakura said, stepping in front of the desk.

"Huh...? Oh! Miss Haruno, do you need anything?" She asked, snapping out of her daze with a panicked blush.

" Oh, no not at all. I just wanted to introduce myself. To tell you the truth, I don't really know anyone here..." Sakura said, trailing off.

"Oh, ok. Well, I'm Kagurazaka Yumi, It's nice to meet the infamous Haruno Sakura." She said pleasantly, brushing her maroon locks out of her deep ebony eyes as she spoke. "I've heard a lot about you from Tsunade-sama"

"I hope they were all good things..." Sakura said. "I've been away for so long, I don't know hardly anyone that works here now, and the people that I have met before are all people that I hardly know."

"I know how you feel. I used to live on the west border of the leaf country, and moved here after hearing that the Hokage was running the newly renovated hospital." Yumi smiled.

"Yes, this place does look very different than the way I remembered..." Sakura trailed off as a tall man strode through the door.

"Why hello Yumi. " He said in a silky tone. "I believe I have an appointment."

"Yes..." she said, rolling her eyes, scanning her clipboard "With Miss Haruno." She said, pointing down the hallway. "Third door on the left." She said, noticing that he hadn't recognized Sakura due to her hair being a deep ebony color, instead of the bubblegum pink she was known for. "She'll be with you soon."

He smirked and disappeared down the hallway.

"Just my luck..." Sakura muttered. "Well, I guess I'll have to get it done and over with." She sighed.

"Aww, he's not _that_ bad, but good luck dealing."

"Thanks. I'll need it."

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Taking a seat at her desk, she reached into her file cabinet with one hand, and grabbed a pen with the other. She feigned familiarity with her office's ritual, and thumbed her way past files and into the empty forms.

"Alright Genma..." She said, handing it to him. "Just fill this out and I'll be with you in a moment."

Pulling her dark hair into a bun, she stepped into the room on her left. She inspected the contents of the many drawers and somehow managed to find all of the items she'd be needing.

She stepped back into the room to see him looking towards the doorway she had just stepped through.

"It's rude to stare..." Sakura said, a bit uneasy under his gaze.

"I'm just... stunned. You've grown into a beautiful woman." He explained, handing her the paper.

"Uh-huh." She rolled her eyes. "Ok, come in here and sit down. This shouldn't take too long." She said, gesturing towards the door .

As she ushered for him to remove his shirt, she felt an overwhelming urge to slap that smirk off of his smug face. Instead, she rolled her eyes, and concentrated on keeping her gaze off of his toned chest. Putting her stethoscope over her ears, she said, "You'll never change..., still a ladies man."

"Is it a crime to complement an attractive woman?"

"No, just when you do it with your kind of motives. Now take a deep breath." She said, placing the scope on his toned lower left abdomen.

In her office, Tsunade was undoubtedly laughing at her.

"Sakura...? Would you let me but you dinner tonight?" He asked, placing his hand over the one on top of the stethoscope. Her heart did a flip flop in her chest. If she hadn't took those lessons so long ago, she probably would have blushed. _How could a man as old as he was have such good looks?_

"Let me get this done, and then I'll consider it, but only if you're silent until I'm done." She said, checking off one of the boxes on her paper, as her cheeks flushed pleasantly.

Well... he wasn't that old...

"You got it." He nodded, his senbon bobbing up and down as he spoke.

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Unfortunately for her, he actually _was_ silent.

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She took a seat at her desk and sighed in relief as she saw that she only had to do a few minor things to the paper.

She jumped suddenly as the speaker on her desk crackled and Yumi's voice came out.

"How'd it go?"

Pressing the button, she sighed "Let's just say I'm having dinner with him tonight..."

"I don't blame you, he's hard to say no to... I even went out with him once, he's an excellent kisser. I wonder if it has anything to do with that senbon...?" She trailed off... " Anyway, would you like to take your lunch break with me, and we can get something to eat?"

"Sure, I'll be right out."

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The rest of her workday was quite uneventful until Ino came in. She had brought flowers to "liven up the place" as she had put it, and in the process of snooping, she became quick friends with Yumi.

She hadn't spoken to Ino or Hinata all week, since they had gotten back. The blonde kunoichi began ranting about how she had been planning to surprise Shikamaru, but he had beat her to it, and how romantic it had been. Then she began telling her of how, three days ago, Hinata had simply walked up to Naruto and kissed him. Everyone had been surprised, but Sakura wasn't in the least bit. The shy Hyuuga heiress had become a much more confident person during their mission, she'd had to be.

After hearing about her only patient of the day, Ino had excitedly dragged her home, where she preceded to dig through all of her things. Ino was in her element, and Sakura was, for now, her doll. She got absolutely no input when Ino took over. Unfortunately for Sakura, the only fitting clothes that she owned, except for the ones she was wearing, were the ones she'd used on the mission. In other words, the slutty ones. The one's Ino liked.

By the time she was to leave, she was wearing a fishnet top over a very short, tight, black tank top, and a pair of low-rider jeans. Sakura was miserable.

_Perfect._

In case you didn't notice... that's a sarcastic perfect.

Sorry, I don't really know if I made Genma in character... but I went off from what I've read in other fics.

Um... I think that I should have the next chapter up sometime next week, I'm pretty loaded down with schoolwork... I really should get to that. Heh...

Or I might put it up tonight (I already have it typed, I just need to correct it...) and have it up an hour or so after this one.

Maybe.

Thanks for all the reviews, I appreciate it.

Please Review some more! I wuvvel them all!


	3. Chapter 2

Here's another Chapter

* * *

Two piercing green eyes stared sightlessly upwards at the white ceiling of her bedroom, thinking of the day's events.

She loved her new job, but then again she had only met a few of her co-workers, and the people she would be working with made all the difference. Yumi had seemed friendly enough.

Her date with Genma had actually provided some worthwhile conversation, he was an interesting man. Contrary to what she'd heard, he was actually quite chivalrous for the whole duration of the night. She felt guilty because she knew she'd disappointed him when she'd only given him a kiss at her door, but she wanted there to actually be the possibility of another night with him.

But for some reason, not so far beyond her comprehension, she had a sense of guilt at the thought that she'd actually enjoyed herself with a man.

Her eyes were soon covered by her thick eyelashes as her eyelids closed and soon she was enveloped in her dreams.

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She saw her Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, herself and Chyo-ban.

Then, she saw _him_, and her heart did a flip-flop.

She hadn't thought she would ever see _him_ again.

But there he was.

But _he_ was an enemy, and would remain one.

_His_ lurid crimson eyes, which were directed toward her shocked emerald ones, were mesmerizing.

_He_ smirked, and she felt her heart do a whole routine of gymnastics. Cartwheels, flips, and even trapeze moves...

Was it wrong that she was jealous when _his_ gaze had turned towards Kakashi?

But _he_ was a murderer...

His dark hair had grown longer, it had been long before but now it was even longer, and it was in his eyes. It was lustrous in the sunlight. She began to fidget as she felt the longing to run her fingers through it, but also tried not to let her sensei notice her uneasiness.

But _he_ was a criminal...

His voice was smoother, and deeper.

But she mustn't think of those things, for he was an enemy, a murderer, a criminal, and... and... and he was looking at her again.

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Her eyes opened slowly, and she let go of a small sigh.

She always had that same dream, ever since she'd turned sixteen. She'd tried everything she knew as a medic to make it stop; pills, ointments, jutsus even, but she'd only gotten it to go away one month at most.

Because she hadn't dreamed it for the past two months, she'd thought she was finally rid of it.

She was wrong.

It was painful to see the man that she had fantasized about in her younger days again. Especially when he was so lifelike, like he was right there with her. The renewed emotions weren't pleasant either. The confusion she'd felt had almost caused her to ask him to take her with him. Her feelings had been even stronger than the ones she had felt when Sasuke had left, but her resistance had grown stronger with her age. But every time she caught glance of a picture of Sasuke, she saw Itachi in his stead.

Itachi...

He'd almost grown into an obsession.

And now..., she wouldn't be able to sleep.

She stood and sauntered into her large living room.

After her parents had died during a Konoha mission, they had left her the home that she'd grown up in. All their personal possessions remained untouched, such as her mother's jewelry, their clothing, and those kinds of items. She just couldn't imagine moving things that had been there since she was a toddler.

As she stepped into the dusty kitchen, she went directly to the refrigerator. Opening it, she wasn't surprised to see that there wasn't anything inside except for a carton of milk and some eggs that she had bought yesterday. Then she remembered the contents of her freezer. She reached in and removed a tub of ice cream. Chocolate... her favorite kind.

She reached into the cabinet for an empty wineglass and set it onto the counter.

Pausing, she realized that she sensed someone outside her front door. When she had come to think of it, it had been there ever since she'd stepped into the living room. Stepping across the floor once again, she made her way to the door and opened it slowly. There, on her doorstep, sat a figure.

"...Genma?" She asked, her eyes adjusting to the dimness outside.

"Took you long enough." He smirked, standing.

"How long have you been here?"

"About ten... fifteen minutes..." He sighed "It may seem pathetic of me but... Do you realize that you're the only woman who's ever turned me down after a date?" His brow furrowed as he thoughtfully chewed on the needle in his mouth.

"Would you like to come in?" She asked, still feeling a bit bad about how she had tricked him. She smiled and stepped aside so he could come in. "Only to hang out though." She added, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.

"Sure." He said, walking inside.

"Damn." He said, seeing her sleeping attire, "How is it that you can manage to make children's pajamas so sexy?"

Sakura blushed.

The only sleeping attire she owned were the ones she was wearing presently, and the less than modest ones she owned from her mission and those were uncomfortable. So she had donned a pair of pajamas from her younger days. Basically it was just a green tank top with a shurinken on the upper right, and a pair of green shorts that had the same little shurinken scattered across them. They were rather small because her nineteen year old self had a totally different proportioned body than her fifteen year old one, but they covered more than the other things she owned.

She was going shopping tomorrow no matter what.

"I was about to eat some ice cream, want some?" She asked, changing the subject.

"What kind?"

"Chocolate."

"Sure."

He followed her into the kitchen, and smirked and said, "Haven't you had anytime to go shopping?"

With a scowl she ordered him to go sit down on the couch and turn on the T.V. and he obliged. If she had to be in the kitchen, she had to be the only one there. Besides she didn't need his smart-ass comments.

Seconds later she appeared in the living room, carrying two wine glasses filled to the top with chocolate ice cream. She sat on the couch and handed him a glass. As she glanced at the T.V., a familiar face passed over the screen, and Sakura almost spit out the contents of her mouth in surprise. It was a re-run of the movie she and her teammates had seen together so long ago.

The snow princess flashed across the screen again.

"This brings back a lot of memories..." Sakura said wistfully.

Memories of Sasuke... of their whole team.

That brought to her attention the fact that she hadn't seen Naruto or Kakashi since she'd returned. She made a mental note to seek them out tomorrow.

They spent the rest of the night watching old re-runs and eating ice cream.

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Sakura awoke to find herself beneath her blankets in her own bed.

_How had she gotten there?_

She stumbled into the living room, relieved to find Genma still sleeping on the couch, although in a very humorous position. She stifled a laugh as she stepped back into her bedroom.

She'd give him an earful about this tomorrow, but it was all in good natured fun. He had enough to blackmail her on, she'd told him more than she had told Hinata and Ino about her life, and _they_ were like her sisters. She'd told him practically everything about herself, even Itachi's impact on her life, without names or extreme details of course.

Then they had both fallen asleep afterthey had broken out the strawberry wine and polished off the whole thing.

She glanced at the clock. Five. Good, she'd have time to go shopping before she had to be at work.

Sighing, she undressed, and slipped on a pair of pants and left on the green tank top. There. That looked _halfway_ decent.

She scribbled out a note telling Genma she'd gone shopping, and dropped it on top of the arm of the leather chair as she walked out the door. She couldn't help but let her gaze linger on him for a moment.

She found herself wondering if he slept like that when he stayed over at women's houses.

She chose to believe that he was just more relaxed around her.

Genma was an interesting man, and she looked forward to learning more about him.

A smirk was plastered across her face for the duration of the day, no doubt due to the position the jounin had been in as she left.

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Genma cracked his neck as he sat up on the couch. Spotting the piece of paper on the floor, he picked it up and smiled at what it said.

_Genma,_

_I went to do some shopping. Feel free to stay if you like, there are a few eggs in the refrigerator, but I'm afraid that's all you'll find. Thanks for your company last night, I really did need it. I might stop by before I have to go to work at eight if I have time, but I probably won't. Just lock up when you leave._

_-Sakura_

Then, he paled as he read,

_P.S. - I have to ask... Do you always sleep like that?_

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Ok, so I'll leave it up to you to think what you will...

But anyway, let me know what you think, Okay?

I 3 REVIEWS!


	4. Chapter 3

The following week passed pretty quickly, nothing exciting happened. She had finally located Naruto at Ichiraku's. He'd been overjoyed and had riddled her with apologies, that he'd just been ... tied up, When he'd said that she decided to not even consider that there was a double meaning to that statement. After she'd gotten Hinata to get him to shut up, she learned that their sensei was away on a mission and was supposed to be back any day now.

She still hadn't met Nanahara because the woman hadn't been at work lately. Apparently she was taking a vacation. She was the only person Sakura hadn't met yet, and she had been working there for two weeks.

Today was Friday, it was a beautiful spring day, and frankly, she couldn't wait for the weekend.

She shuffled through the doors of the hospital and grabbed her mail. With a yawn, she turned to Yumi.

"Tired?" Yumi teased. Knowing that Genma had been over to Sakura's house again for the third time this week, she'd made her own assumptions.

"Oh shut up." Sakura said, throwing a pen from her pocket at her. "You know it's not like that"

"But you want it to be." She laughed, ducking as another couple of pens came flying her way. "What the hell? Do you have like a box of those things or something?"

"Maybe..." Sakura smirked. "All right I'll be in my office" She stumbled forward and added "Not sleeping..."

"Wait, Sakura."

"What?" She asked, expecting a smartass comment.

"Nanahara is back. I advise you to keep the Genma topic on the down low while she's around." Yumi warned, biting her bottom lip.

"Why?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Let's just say that..." She trailed off and her eyes rose to the woman standing behind Sakura. " Good morning Haruka! This is Haruno Sakura. Sakura, this is Nanahara Haruka." She introduced them, talking extremely fast as her cheeks steadily deepened into a shade of maroon.

Sakura turned to see a tall woman of about twenty-two years standing about six feet away from her. Her long brunette hair was almost as long as Sakura's, and she had striking blue eyes.

"Nice to meet you Nanahara." Sakura said, extending her hand.

"Pleasure. Please, call me Haruka." She said as she turned away from her and grabbed a stack off Yumi's desk, completely ignoring Sakura's outstretched hand. "Yumi? You really should start doing your job and bring my papers into me when you get them."

Sakura scowled as the woman returned to her office.

Bitch.

"So anyway..., as you can see, she thinks she's God's gift to man. For some reason, she took up a liking to Genma and he well...kind of ... shrugged her off. I can understand why though. She was acting like she was his wife or something. So now, when she sees a woman around him or 'with' him, she gets all jealous. She already didn't like you to begin with because she knows you're more adept than her in medic skills, and if she sees you with Genma, well lets just say that she will make your life a living hell. " Yumi explained.

"Well, he said he would be stopping by to bother me today. Doesn't he know she's back? Wouldn't he have said something?"

"Maybe he thinks you shouldn't be bothered by it, I mean, since you're not dating or anything..." Yumi offered.

"I'm not. I don't care." Sakura scowled. "It's not like we are dating or anything." Sakura snorted. She HATED people like that. "I'll be in my office." Sakura said, shutting the door behind her.

Sighing to herself, she took a seat at her desk but jumped as Yumi's voice trailed out from the speaker on her desk.

"Hey Sakura?"

"What?"

"Your first appointment is in ten minutes. Two male jounins coming in from a mission. Tsunade called them in right before you showed up. Can you handle them both?"

"Yeah. Just send them on in when they get here." Sakura sighed as she laid her head on her desk. Today was just going to be one huge headache.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The two jounin tapped lightly on the door and stepped inside. They saw a woman asleep on her papers, the bright pink roots of her hair contrasting radiantly with the rest of her fading ebony hair.

A deep voice laughed softly, "Do you want me to do it Hatake?"

"Be my guest." The other said, remembering how close she'd come to hitting him with a kunai when he'd tried to wake her up during a mission. There was no way he'd risk that again.

"Ahem..."

"That won't work. She's a heavy sleeper Asuma." Kakashi smirked. He was enjoying seeing his comrade so uncomfortable. Not to mention that it was just fun to piss him off.

"Ok... Fine. "Asuma scowled. "AHEM... Sakura!"

The medic sat up quickly wielding a kunai.

"Relax kunoichi. It's just us." Asuma laughed in his low gravelly voice.

"I believe you were expecting us to begin with..." The copy-nin smirked beneath his mask as he stepped forward so she could see him better.

"Kaka-sensei...?" Sakura said, squinting her eyes trying to adjust them to the light.

"Kaka-sensei...?" Asuma repeated as if he was making a mental note. "Interesting..." He decided that he would be saving that for blackmail later.

"Wow... You've really grown up..." Kakashi said, seeing her clearly as she stood.

"Yeah, and you know what that means Hatake? You've grown older." Asuma smirked, and then it faded, " ... And so have I..." Asuma said, intending it to be an insult only to realize it related to himself as well.

"Sorry about that. Please, have a seat, and fill out these papers." She said, handing them each two sheets of paper, as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"I hate these things." Asuma scowled. "Why do we have to fill them out every time we come here, shouldn't they be on file or something?" He grumbled.

"So how have you been Sakura?" Kakashi asked, ignoring, and speaking over his friend.

"Oh... I've been good. Busy ... and tired, but good." She smiled "And you?"

"Pretty much the same." He replied, his pen rapidly scratching over the paper as he spoke. Sakura wondered how many times he must have been in this medic center if he knew all the paperwork practically by heart.

"Ok. Umm... So do either of you have any injuries that need to be treated right away?" She asked, standing up.

Kakashi looked to Asuma.

With a sigh, Asuma stood and lifted up the side of his shirt to reveal a nasty gash that had been clumsily bandaged. It was about six inches long and was bleeding through the wrappings.

Sakura flew out of her chair and inspected the wrappings, her delicate fingers removing them slowly. "Did Tsunade-sama know about this?" She asked even though she already knew the answer. If the Hokage had known of this she would have healed it on the spot, for he was losing a lot of blood.

"No."

"And you sat through a whole meeting with her?" The worried nin asked, furrowing her brow. "Kakashi, you don't have any, correct?"

"No. Just him." He said, knowing the extent of the kunoichi's anger, because he knew that she couldn't fathom how a grown, intelligent jounin like Asuma could be so ignorant.

He watched as her hand began to glow a light blue, and her eyes closed. He knew from what she'd explained to him in her younger days that she was searching the wound for any foreign objects such as poison, bacteria, ect. In a flash her hand was on his wound. Her brow furrowed and her eyes flashed open as she pulled her hand from his side and a maroon substance followed.

"Dammit. Asuma, whatever weapon hit you was poisoned. It's a very rare kind, and normally medics will just skip over it, because it's color is so close to the color of blood. If you had waited an hour longer, you could have been paralyzed." She scowled. "I didn't get it all, but I've gotten the majority of it. You need to take..." She stood and walked over to a large wooden cabinet. When she opened it, they saw rows upon rows of medical treatments. She chose a container of blue-ish liquid on the top shelf, and carried it over to her desk. "I'm going to give you fifteen mil. You need to take..." She grabbed a small plastic cup and demonstrated how much he was to take." Once a day. Can you handle that? It's only a little bit."

"Yeah." He said, taking the little plastic vial and stuffing it into a pocket of his vest.

"Ok. Now let's get this over with, I have little patience left, so while I'm ready for it, tell me if you were hit any where else with these weapons."

"No."

"Ok. Then lets get your checkup over with." She said, referring to the standard checkup that every shinobi got after missions.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After she'd finished looking both of the jounin over, Asuma left, a bit angry ay the lecture he had gotten from the young woman. Kakashi chose to stay behind.

"Did you make all of those medicines?" Kakashi asked, pointing to the cabinet that he knew contained all of her medicines that he'd seen earlier.

"Yeah. I made a lot of them while I was on that mission, I had a lot of free time. Believe it or not, a few of them are my own creations."

"That's amazing."

"Thanks." Sakura said blushing. She knew what a complement it was to receive praise from the copy-nin, because she hadn't gotten very many meaningful ones as a genin.

"We all missed you, it wasn't the same without you here."

"I needed to get away anyway... There were too many people badmouthing..." She paused, and took a deep breath. "...Sasuke... I was pretty pissed at him myself, but after someone dies you're supposed to show them respect."

Kakashi nodded. "You really did love him, didn't you?"

"I did ... in a way. But not in the kind of way I thought I did." She whispered, her voice becoming raspy. "Sorry..." She said, wiping away the tears falling down her pale cheeks. "It's just, you're only the second person I've really talked to this about."

"Sakura..." The speaker crackled. "You have a visitor, I'm sending him right in." Yumi sounded panicked, so she knew it was Genma.

"Ok. Thanks Yumi" She said into the speaker.

"Do you want me to...? " Kakashi offered only to be interrupted.

"No- no of course not. It's only Genma." She whispered as the said person stepped through her office door grinning from ear to ear.

"Hatake! You're home. I'm not interrupting one of your doctor things am I?" Genma asked, his hand still on the door knob, and ready to turn it if the need arose.

"No. Sit down, we're just talking about old times." Sakura said, smiling.

"I can always come back." Genma offered.

"Shut up and sit down Genma." Kakashi ordered.

* * *

I promise you, Itachi-kun will show himself soon. Actually, it's going to start moving faster... Maybe too fast... well, if I don't like it, I guess I could always revise it... Even though I'm between this and Untitled and It's taken me forever to get a new chapter of that out... but it REALLy needs revising. So anyway... there will be a bit of a longer stretch between chapters because I need to finish revising Untitled.

Heh...

Please read and review... And you know what...? Why do I keep saying "read" at the bottom? If your at the bottom of the page, you usually have already read it... Well, unless you just like to read the A/N's, but I don't know anyone like that... So.. to each his own... or hers.

Ok, so review.

Puh-leeease?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N- I am so sorry this took so long... I kinda deleted all of the chapters that I had typed up (Nine for this fic)Don't ask me how, it's a long, and pretty stupid story and... yeah. I couldn't get myself to start typing again. Now I am.

Here ya go.

P.S. I think Itachi will come sooner than I thought because I kinda thought about what I could leave out of the story, and now I know exactly what the next few chapters will be. So he WILL come soon. Just not yet. I believe I said I was a procrastinator before, didn't I?

enjoy

* * *

Kakashi's single eye glanced in at the Kunoichi with her head laying on her desk. Her hair was finally back to the way it was supposed to be, pink, and vibrant, excluding the blackish tint still lingering on the tips.

After the kunoichi had finished her workday, she had taken out of her desk a slightly large bottle of sake for them al to share as they conversed. Today was her day to stay late In case of an emergency, so they camped out in her office and talked all night. Well, until now.

And now... she was fast asleep.

Both Kakashi and Genma stood, knowing it was time to get home. They looked to each other for a moment before Kakashi offered to take the sleeping woman home.

"It's okay Hatake, I'll do it. You just got home from a mission, you need your rest." Genma said stepping forward.

"You wouldn't... try anything, are you?" He asked bluntly, knowing the habits of his friend, and fellow jounin.

"Of course not Hatake..." Genma sighed. He wanted this woman more than he'd ever wanted any other, but he would never try anything while she was so vulnerable, he respected her too much.

"I trust you." Kakashi said, stepping out of Genma's path. "Thanks, I'll clean up this mess, and then turn in."

Genma lifted the sleeping kunoichi into his arms and stepped out into the hallway. He could see Yumi at her desk, scribbling something onto a sheet of paper.

He sighed when he felt a delicate hand on his shoulder, turning him around. Then, in front of him, stood a tall woman, beautiful, but also hideous, staring at him.

Her eyes shot downwards, with a scowl, she asked disgustedly, "What are you doing with her?"

"She fell asleep while we were talking... When did you get back?"

"This morning, didn't you remember Genma-kun?" She asked, disorienting her perfected features into a fake pout.

"No, I forgot." And if I'd known, I sure as hell wouldn't have been here. He added silently. No woman had ever scared him, not even Anko. But this woman...

"Oh, well, why don't you let Yumi take her home... They seem to be good friends, and then we can go get dinner, or something..." She said, running her fingers affectionately down his shoulder.

"She can't carry her without using her chakra, I'm not going to ask her to do that." Genma replied, turning around and heading towards the said secretary.

"Genma?" Haruka asked.

Genma stopped, but didn't turn around.

"Why do you like her?"

"Because, she's real." He said simply, stepping away.

He smiled at Yumi as he passed, and she grinned, telling him she had been listening. "Have a good night."

Haruka scowled. What did he mean by that? Real? She, herself was real... What did he mean!

She returned to her office to think about what he'd said.

XXXXXX

The turn of the lock clicked, and Sakura's eyes opened slowly.

"Heh. Lucky I gave you a key huh?" She smirked at him, as he carried her inside.

"Yeah, I guess so." He smirked back, setting her onto her bed.

"Thanks Genma." She said, positioning herself to a sitting position against the wooden headboard of her bed. "Aww and you haven't even tried anything yet." She teased, beginning to remove the wrappings from around her arm.

"Yet?" He asked, taking on a feigned injured look. He would never go back on his word to his friend. Not even if she asked him to, unbeknownst to Sakura.

"Yet." She smirked.

"So what exactly are you inferring? That I cannot be a good enough friend to resist temptation and not make a move on you while you're drunk?"

"No... I'm saying that I'm too attractive for you not to." She burst out laughing at her own comment, kicking off her shoes as she laughed.

"It's true... It's like I'm being drawn to you..." She grinned. His senbon flicked upwards as he grinned back, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. They enjoyed their little teasing conversations, that was, in fact how they spent the majority of their friendship, excluding talking.

"And I'm not drunk." She snorted. "I only had like... one and a half. I was talking too much to drink that much, plus I was on duty..."

"If that's the case then how come you passed out?"

"I didn't pass out. I was tired, and under a lot of stress, it was just a... Blah kind of day, you know? Between Haruka, Asuma, and you two, it just built up and I was just wiped." Sakura explained with a sigh.

"So... you heard about Haruka... huh?" Genma asked, feeling a bit guilty. "Is she giving you problems?"

"No... She's just..." She stopped unwrapping her arms for a moment for a second to think, "Full of herself?"

"Yeah, that she is. Don't worry about her though, she is weak." Genma smiled good-naturedly, "You could take her."

"That's not the point Genma," Sakura sighed in frustration, "it's dangerous to have someone that obsessed about you. You need to do something."

"Well, I have tried. She is generally a good woman, once you get passed her snobbery I don't want to hurt her, she's been through a lot. So I just ignore her." Genma explained, looking concerned.

Sakura sighed and resumed removing her wrappings, this time from her legs. "I don't know her that well, but if you say she's a good person, I believe you but... I don't know Genma."

"I think she needs a friend."

"Oh no ... no, I'm not going to put up with h-"

"I'm not asking you to, I'm jut asking that you leave room for a potential friendship to develop."

"All right, but I'm not promising anything." She sighed.

"I still don't believe that you only had one drink..."

"I DID!" She said, turning to look up at him to see his brown eyes following every move her fingers made as they removed the strips of cloth from around her still tanned legs. She stopped, and watched as his eyes flicked up to her own, a grin flashing across his lips. "Stop it!" She laughed.

"Okay, okay, I wasn't doing anything..."

She laughed, a soft charming, but real laugh. "You never fail to make me smile..." She said, shaking her head.

"That..." He said, in a more serious tone, "Brings me to my inquiry. Since I already spend most nights here anyway... Do you think I could sleep on your couch a few days a week?"

"Well, yeah, but why? Don't you have your own apartment?" She nosed. She trusted her perverted friend completely, despite his reputation, but was still curious.

"Yes, I do ... but there are too many bad memories in that place..."

"Oh, okay, well, be my guest. Literally. I don' mind as long as you can handle my incessant talking." She grinned genuinely, throwing the last of her wrappings onto the tan carpet.

"I don't mind at all, talk away. In fact, I remember you telling me that you fall asleep easier when you talk yourself to sleep, and you don't dream."

She nodded. Throwing back her covers she asked teasingly, "Do you think you can manage without trying something?"

"I don't know, but I guess I'll have to try won't I?"t

Sakura laughed, and walked over to her dresser. "I'm going to go change into something more ... comfortable." She said in a mock seducing tone, flipping her air as she stepped into the bathroom.

Genma shook his head as he laughed quietly to himself. "I'm looking forward to the flannel Pajamas!" He yelled towards the bathroom.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Genma eyed the sleeping woman in his arms Her breathing was even, and passed through her lips softly, with relaxation that only sleep could bring. She must have been having a pleasant dream, for there was a small smile gracing her pink lips. Genma sighed. This woman was too beautiful for her own good.

Somehow, he couldn't help but think of her as his daughter, or maybe even a sister ... well, one he flirted with. This was amazing to him because after the age of nine, he hadn't given females an extra thought unless he had ulterior motives.

And then, at times he wanted her, but it wasn't lust, as it was with other women. This kunoichi was ... he couldn't even find a word to describe her. She was more beautiful than an October sunset, she was more graceful than a black panther, more deadly than a viper, and as gentle as a mouse. For some reason that he would perhaps never fathom, it was satisfying to just be around her.

He watched as her brows furrowed and her lips opened slightly in a whisper.

"Itachi..."

* * *

Uh-oh... That's not good... What will Genma's reaction be? OO

-loves trying to be suspenseful-

Review, PLEASE


	6. Chapter 6

Ok. I know you all wanted to see his reaction, but it will play into the story later. I'm sorry, but I am a procrastinator, and I have things planned that will work up to the "meeting Itachi again" part, and this is part of it. For now, you can just interpret that he is wondering about it, but doesn't want to ask her about it. So, yes, I am begging you all to have patience. But I do want to thank you for all of your wonderful reviews, they've helped me keep going, and I hope that you'll keep doing so.

Thanks so so so so so much.

* * *

Time passed quickly, first a day had gone by, then a week, then a month, and then a year. Sakura felt as if time, itself, was leaving her behind.

The day she found out that Naruto and Hinata were getting married, was all she needed. It was like her finger had been sitting on the trigger of a gun, now all she had to do was make the choice of weather to pull it or not. She decided she was going to try to take control of her life, as best she could.

It wasn't as if she didn't like her life, on the contrary, it was wonderful. With days filled with the constant teasings of Genma, her job, and her friends, she was very happy.

But she wanted more.

Maybe she was only selfish, but it was true.

Somehow, she couldn't be as happy for Hinata as she wanted to be. Standing there, wearing a long dress in a shade of deep indigo, she couldn't help but selfishly think about where her life was going. Perhaps this was only jealousy. She allowed a feigned smile to spread across her features for her friend. She could at least give her that. It was amazingly easy, to slide on a smile, just as if she was putting on a noh mask.

Her smile became a real one as a jounin sidled up beside her, his senbon bobbing as he took her arm.

Genma...

It seemed as if he was the only one she could talk to about her numerous problems, and for that she was truly grateful.

But it was not enough.

She couldn't tell him about how her dreams of _him_ had become more life like and some what more... urgent. But of course she would never betray his trust, and lie to him. If he would ask her straight out about it, she would not lie, but she knew that it would cost them their friendship.

She felt a light tap on her shoulder, and turned to see Tsunade, sake in hand. "Come here... I would like to speak with you..." She beconed, stepping over to a small table in the corner as Sakura followed.

The reception hall was rather large, and Sakura found herself watching as people waved at her from across the room. People she hadn't seen in years.

"I approved your request Sakura," Tsunade began, sipping at her sake. "But I'd like to know where you will be going for the duration." The hokage said in a somewhat worried tone. Sakura had trained under her for a few years, and knew when it was best to lie, or to tell the truth. She also knew that Tsunade wasn't distracted enough for her to get away with lying at the moment.

"Well..." Sakura began, choosing her words carefully, and swishing around the small amount of wine in her glass as she contemplated her words. "I'm not sure. I'm going to search for an old friend, and frankly, I have no idea where he is. I do think that I can track him down within a month and a half's time." Sakura lied.

"He?" The sannin asked, her eyebrows lifting as a smirk touched her lips.

"He."

"Well, alright. Just don't get yourself into any trouble."She said, sighing.

Sakura grinned, but it faded slightly at her sensei'snext words.

"I trust you."

"Thanks Tsunade-sama, I'm going to wait a week before I leave though, I don't want to take everyone's attention off of them." She said, jerking her head to the right at the happycouple sitting at a gigantictable. Black tux and a stunningly white dress. The couple was a pair of contrasting colors in every aspect;personality wise and even in their hair color.

"That's very thoughtful." Tsunade nodded and then stood. "Well, I better get Jiraiyah away from those poor women." Tsunade said, stomping off towards her fellow sannin.

Sakura grinned. It was _finally_ happening.

"So you are going then..." Genma mumbled, coming over and sitting down.

"Yeah." She replied. "I have some unresolved issues I need to take care of."

Genma nodded.

"So... how was your mission?" Sakura asked softly, afraid that she'd hurt him by not telling him what kind of issues.

He'd come home just before the wedding, and had changed hurredly on a quick run home,and hadbeen only present at the reception.

"Ah, something stupid, as usual. Oh, but I did get this..." Genma said, obviously proud that he'd gotten whatever it was. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver chain with an emerald pendant.

"Oh Genma, it's... beautiful! Where'd you get it?" She aked aghast as he stepped around behind her to clasp it around her slender neck.

"Funny story..." He said, sitting back down. "We caught this bandit, and he had this big bag of jewelry with him. We looked through it and when I saw this... it was the same color as your eyes."

"Oh Genma! You didn't steal it?"

"Of course not, I asked, and the owner gladly gave it to me." The shinobi smirked. "After all, I am _such_ a great shinobi."

"Eh? You're okay... I've seen better." She said, giving him a serious look, before giggling. "Thank you Genma." She grinned, fidgeting with it.

"Maybe I should take it and give it to some one else..." He said, standing.

"Awwww. Don't be like that, I was only teasing." She whined, walking over to him and hugging him.

She jumped with a squeal stepping back from him. "What the hell!" He had just let his hand roam too far.

Genma grinned.

"You're only getting away with that this one time." She scowled, yanking the sebon from between his teeth and then pulling her hair back into a messybun with it.

"Wait up Sakura!"

This man knew her way too well. Every once in a while, he would chance things that she'd normally get mad at him for, but they were always done at precise moments when she didn't get as irritated by it, for some reason. It was almost as if he could read her, like a book.

XXXXXXX

Sakura collapsed tiredly onto the down blankets on her soft matress. As soon as her head hit the pillows, she was out like a light.

Genma paused as he stepped into the dimly lit room. To his amusement, the kunoichi was curled up on her bed, snoring softly. What had it been? Two minutes since they'd gotten home? And here she was, laying on her bed, in a dress and heels, the senbon she'd taken from him earlier still in her hair.

He took a seat at the end of her bed and gently removed her two and a half inch heels from her feet. How she could stand in them was beyond his imagination. Despite his efforts to keep her asleep, her head lifted slightly to watch him.

"What?"

"Thanks." She said, letting her head fall back onto the pillow. "I think I had one too many..." She groaned.

"Or _five_, perhaps?"

"Yeah... or five too many." She said as she buried her head deeper into the pillow. He watched in amusement as she yanked the senbon from her hair and threw it, pinning the curtain on the other side of the room, to the wall.

XXXXXXXXX

Sakura sighed. Well, at least she didn't have to go to work this morning. Haruka would be there, and she really wasn't in the mood to deal with her today. Haruka never bothered her, not externally of course, but the woman would sit there, and stare at her. It was creepy.

With a yawn, she sat up and stumbled into the kitchen, grabbing a banana. Then, on a second thought, she grabbed another one, and strode over to the couch. Her friend was lying there, sleeping silently. A smile spread across her face as she noticed that he was sleeping in that weird way again, he always did... and then she plopped onto his back, causing his lower half to sink down onto the couch.

He groaned.

"What do you want?" He asked, his face burried into a pillow. It always irked him how she woke up and she rarely had the symptoms of a hangover... If anything, she was in a better mood than usual on these days.

"Well, lets start with a question." She said perkily. "You didn't take advantage of me last night, did you?"

"No... why?"

"Well, I remember falling asleep in my dress, and then today..." She said, pulling her legs up so that she was now sitting indian-style on his back. "I wake up to find that I'm in pajamas..." Indeed she was in her pajama shorts." And ironically enough, they're the ones I wore that night we went on a date..."

"Oh, yeah. That." He said, his hands coming around to the back of his head as he ran his fingers through his chestnut locks. Then, turning his head he said softly, "You kinda... I guess you were uncomfortable, but you started pulling your dress off, which woke me up. You know me, I thought I was dreaming, but... yeah. " Asuma trailed off, he undoubtably felt awkward telling her of what he'd done, probably because he'd never resisted a woman before...

"Ah, so you dressed me?" She asked in a skeptical tone.

"Yeah." He said, turning his face back into the pillow.

"Well, aren't you the unexpected gentleman?" She teased, knowing that he'd never do anything to take advantage of her. Besides, she'd been known to tear off her clothes in her sleep before, unfortunately the last time had been at a sleep over.

She stood, and told him to flip over, and he did. She then took her seat, this time on his chest, indian style, with her back against the cushion. "Here, good morning." She said, stuffing the banana in his face.

"Thanks."

"Mh-hm. So..." She said as she swallowed the bit of banana she'd just taken a bite of, "What do you wanna do today?"

"That's right, you don't have to work..." He said, and then sat up, and she slid into his lap. "I know what I wanna do..." He said in his tone used only for flirting.

"No." She said, standing up.

"Awwww... you don't even know what I was going to say."

"Okay, what were you going to say?" She asked, skeptical.

"I was going to say, I'm meeting Kakashi for drinks at two, do you want to come?" He lied smoothly.

"Liar. But yes I would." She grinned, stepping into her bedroom and shutting the door behind herself.

* * *

Okayses. I'm sorry if this part of the story is kinda weird, I'm in a really hyper mood and, well, I kinda deleted the original of this chapter, so... yeah

-Nods-

So yeah, Read and Review! Please? I'll loveyou forever and ever!


	7. Chapter 7

"Well, I think that the missions are gettin' too easy these days." Genma said conversationally as he knawed thoughtfully on his ever-present senbon. "Not that that's a bad thing really, it's just..."

Kakashi nodded as he took a drink of the warm substance filling his small glass. "I know what you mean, but that means Konoha's at peace..." He said, pausing to take another drink.

Sakura eyed him curiously. No matter how many times she'd seen her old sensei without his mask, his face was always so perplexing.

"I heard Tsunade speaking with Shizune the other day about sending out some nin to confront The Akatsuki." Kakashi finished.

"Really?" Sakura asked softly, taken by suprise. "And just how, may I ask, are they going to find them? They're always on the move, aren't they?" It was true, to her knowledge. It had taken Sasuke almost year to find Itachi.

"Sakura, don't you realize that we have shinobi more skilled than ANBU in our ranks? Konoha has them tracking a few of it's members." Genma explained, turning towards the only female of their party.

"Of course I know about them. I _was_ the Hokage's student after all." She said sarcastically. She couldn't hold back the slight bitterness that edged into her voice. The part about Konoha still actively watching the Akatsuki was all new information. She knew, of course, that that old perverted sannin was still tracking them, but still.

"Well, I think it's time for another round of drinks..." Kakashi said. He directed his eye towards the waitress and raised his hand in a signal for her to bring them more sake.

After the sake was set before them, the subject veered towards weopanry, and Sakura's attention strayed.

So, they were watching the Akatsuki? Well, she had to wonder if she would be sighted when, or if, she found the man she was thinking of. That was a new matter to think of. Would she risk her status in Konoha just to quench her curiosity? And, how did she know that he wouldn't kill her on sight? From what she'd heard about him, he was ruthless. Yet, somehow, she couldn't convince herself that he would do something like that. That look he'd given her, she knew he'd recognized her. He had to have.

"SAKURA!" She was torn abruptly from her thoughts as Genma's voice reached her ears as he waved his hands infront of her face.

"Huh?"

Genma sighed. "I said, and apparently I was right, that we're boring you."

"Oh no, I was just thinking." She said, smiling. She couldn't help but notice that Genma had just gotten rid of some unnoticed tenseness at her somewhat more friendly tone.

"I believe..." Kakashi began, " That your blonde friend and the secratery.. Yuki? I think... were wondering where you were this morning." The two women had been looking for her in the time between when they'd left her place, and when they'd arrived at the pub. "We wouldn't mind if you wanted to go find them."

She glanced towards Genma who nodded with a smile.

"Okay, then I'll just finish my drink..." She said with a smile, now even more light hearted as the aspect of spending the day with two of her friends came to light. Besides, she had plenty of time to think about_ that _later.

"Don't worry, as soon as you leave, we'll talk about nothing but you." Genma said with a classic flirtatious wink.

"I'm sure." She said sarcastically as she sipped at the contents of her cup. "Me and everyother woman passing by... Speaking of which, Kakashi, are you seeing anyone these days?"

Genma raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. After she shrugged in reply, he turned to face Kakashi curiously, for he himself didn't even know the answer to her question. He watched as Kakashi held his cup between the first two fingers and thumbs of each hand. He kept his same bored, aloof stature as he answered. "No. Are you?"

Sakura laughed. "Do I look like I'm seeing anyone?" Then as she saw his eye flick towards Genma, she understood. "No, I'm not."

Sakura sighed as she drained the last of her drink. "Well, I'm gonna go find Ino."

...The two jounins waved as she turned to leave. Then as her foot was about to step out into the sunny Konoha afternoon, she could have sworn she heard the words "I'm getting worried about her..." Her heart lept nervously and she hurried out onto the street. Did they suspect?

She shrugged it off as she saw Genma laughing through the window in front of their table. She rushed home quickly, knowing that Ino would be their waiting, or at least have left a note.

To her dismay, whenever she stood infront of her doorstep, she discovered that the door was unlocked. Sure enough, whenever she opened the door, she saw her two friends sitting on her couch, laughing heartily to themselves. Ino turned expectantly towards her as she shut the door behind herself.

"Took you long enough." She laughed, throwing a wadded peice of paper at her. "I was about to leave a note and leave without you."

Sakura smirked and walked over to her loveseat and took a seat on the soft materia. "Where are you dragging us this time? She asked with a sigh.

She saw Yuki smile as her friend retorted, "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You don't wanna go? Fine, we'll go-" She said, standing abruptly.

"Where Ino?" She cut her off, knowing how quickly her friend would forget her anger.

"She wants to go to the pool." Yuki said, speaking up.

"Yeah, so get you're bikini, and lets go." She said, snorting. Ino had forced her to buy a bikini as soon as summer had hit them again. Ino had a weird obsession with swimming, she loved it.

"Fine." She said, standing and shuffling to her room. It wasn't that she didn't like swimming, on the contrary, she loved it. It was just all of the people...

Hurredly, she pulled on her swim wear, and put on some loose clothing. Without another thought, she grabbed a bag and shoved a towel and sunscreen into it. Seeing her friends still chatting quietly on her couch, she grabbed some Tylenol from her bathroom cabinet and downed three. If she was going to put up with Ino for the rest of the afternoon, she'd need them. On a second thought, she shoved them in her bag.

"Comon!" Ino screeched with a grin, appearing in the doorway.

"Okay, okay." Sakura sighed, a small smile appearing on her face. No matter how annoying her friend could be, she couldn't imagine life without her. Her annoyingness was the quality that made her Ino. Well, that and her constant boy chasing.

XXXXXXX

"I don't understand why we couldn't have gone swimming by the bridge." Sakura complained, seeing how many people were at the pool. "We used to when we were younger..."

"You don't know whats in that water, there could be anything in it. You, of all people, should know that." Ino said, throwing her things onto one of the chairs used by sunbathers.

"Yeah, I know." Sakura sighed. She just wasn't in one of those moods where she actually liked the perverted compliments. Then again, those moods were rather rare on her part. In fact, she had a sudden longing to beat the crap out of someone or something. She pulled off her clothing and threw it onto the chair next to Ino's. She screamed as she was suddenly yanked towards the edge of the pool. "NOOOOOOOO!"

Ino laughed as she was sure that her friend was going into the water, but just as she was at the edge, Sakura swung Ino around infront of her so that she fell into the water instead. "AHHHHHHH! Fuck! It's COLD!" Ino screamed as she climbed out of the water. Sakura's eyes widened as she was pulled into the water seconds later. "You BITCH!"

"Ladies, PLEASE! This is a public pool."

Sakura turned to see the lifegaurd sitting in the chair, staring directly at them. "Sorry." She said, smirking mischeviously, perhaps it was because she had just pushed Yuki into the water. The said woman preceded to then yell out every profane word known to man towards the rosette kunoichi, which had apparently ticked off the woman who was acting as lifeguard. Sakura thought she recognized her as one of the new sensei's at the academy.

She suddenly leapt over Yuki as the said kunoichi raced towards her with a running start from behind to push her face forwards into the freezing water.

"F----..." Yuki stopped herself as she almost let a forbidden word slip.

Ino grinned evilly as they all exchanged mischevious glances. They all knew what the other was thinking. Who could they get to slip first?

XXXXX

Sakura turned and shuffled, still dripping wet, towards her things, closely followed by her friends. She threw her things onto the ground beneath her chair and pulled out the tanning lotion. After being back in Konoha for more than a year, her tan that she'd grown so fond of had disappeared.

Ino muttered under her breath as she begrudgingly sat on her own chair about how there were only two kids there, and they were both fourteen. As if they'd never heard it before.

Sakura sighed and laid on her stomach, cushioning her head on her arms. She closed her eyes contentedly as she felt the heat begin to get more intense on her back. "I really missed this." Sakura said quietly.

"What? Ino asked, pausing as she turned to face her friend.

"This. Us, hanging out. Acting immature."

Ino nodded. "Yeah. After we came home, it felt so forein for you and Hinata not to be around all the time."

"Do you miss the sand?" Yuki asked quietly, now laying on the other side of Ino.

"Well, yeah." Ino sighed. "The men there weren't as cute though." Ino laughed as her friends rolled their eyes. She pulled her legs up and sat indian style on the chair. "Which reminds me, I heard that you're leaving Konoha." She said, turning to face Sakura expectantly.

"Um... Yeah, in a week."

"Why?" Ino and Yuki asked simultaneously.

"Well, I'm going.. I'm visiting someone." She said, blushing a bit at her obvious mistake. She reall did have to get her story straight.

"Hmmmm...? A male someone?" Ino asked, finally laying on her own chair. A single perfectly shaped eyebrow raised in curiosity. Sakura couldn't even imagine, if she tried, all the assumptions running through the blonde's head.

"Maybe." She said, smirking. She couldn't help the smirk. As the subject was renewed in her mind, she pictured him in her head. Finally seeing him and speaking with him again would push away the dreams... hopefully.

"Who is he? Yuki asked, her curiosity kicking in.

"Um... Just an old friend. Let's just drop the subject." She said, growing anxious at their prying. As she turned onto her back, she felt, rather than saw her old friend eyeing her curiously, but she dropped the subject. Sakura was thankfull that Ino could read her and know that she really should drop the subject.

"Oh yeah!" Ino said, sitting up and checking her watch from within her bag. "You guys are coming to my place, and I'm going to give you guys makeovers, 'cuz we're going out tonight."

"Makeovers?"

"Well, I can't think of a better word for what I'm going to do." Ino said, shrugging. "Anyway, I figure that if we leave here at four, and go to my place, I'll be done around... seven?" She said, practically glowing with excitement.

"Ino... I think you should have been a beautition instead of a kunoichi." Yuki said, shaking her head.

"Eh? Nah. Not many kunoichi would pay money for that." Ino said, showing that she'd obviously given it some thought. "Besides, it wouldn't be the same as making you two my dolls." She said, grinning. "I mean, come on. There are some ugly kunoichi in Konoha."

"That's true... " Sakura said, nodding. As mean as it sounded, it was true. "What about Shikamaru?" Sakura asked, remembering what had happened on previous nights out with her blonde friend.

"Oh.. He'll be there."

Sakura nodded understandingly. "Yuki, don't you have to work tomorrow?"

"No. I'm on my vacation too. I came a month before you did, so I'm due my vacation time too." She explained.

"Oh... So there's no way we can get out of ITTT!" She ended with a scream as Ino pushed her out of her chair. They all erupted into laughter.

* * *

Review please. 

Pretty please?

Ummmmm... With sugar?

And... Ice cream?

And... and... cookies!

Nods

Throws out cookies and other mentioned edibles to reviewers


	8. Chapter 8

A set of perfectly manicured toes, painted black at her request, peeked out of the strappy red heeled shoes on each of Sakura's feet. They held her an extra four inches off of the ground, making her seem a bit taller than she'd been five hours ago. Her long slender legs peeked out of her borrowed, ebony, above the knee skirt as she took each step. She felt sophisticated in that particular skirt, it was the kind that swayed when she walked and if she turned abruptly it would fly up. Oddly enough, it wasn't layered, just one, solid skirt. Her top, an eye-catching deep red, contrasted nicely with her skirt, giving her just the right amount of 'kick' that she could ever want to attract the opposite sex. The diving neckline, in the shape of a 'v'; along with the small necklace she wore, that left it's emerald pendant resting right above her cleavage; didn't exactly take away from her looks. In her nostril, she had a small green jewel, to match the necklace. She hadn't worn anything in that peircing for months. Her pastel pink tresses were pulled back into a messy, rushed looking ponytail; leaving loose strands framing her face and causing a sexy effect. Makeup wise she only wore light eyeliner and some lipgloss. It created the right effect, and managed to keep her look from crossing the line between hot and slutty.

She was dressed to kill.

Beside her, Yumi was sporting the same pair of heels, only in a black color and her toe nails were painted a soft silvery colour. Her apparel was similar to Sakura's, but was a black dress, similar to a sundress. It had a silver glittered stripe across the hem of the flowing skirt, drawing the eyes towards her toned legs. Instead of straps, it tied behind her back. When she turned, you could see that the back of the dress scooped all the way down her lower back, ending in a scooping U. While she had not realized it at the time, Ino had assisted her into showing off the tattoo on her lower back. It was a vine of some sort, with a large purpleflower in the middle, breaking it. This had suprised them all. After they'd finally gotten over the fact that sweet little Yumi actually had a tattoo, Ino had pulled her hair back into a bun.

She hadn't dressed like this since her younger days.

Ino, the mastermind behind the two magnificent works of beauty, walked to the other side of Sakura. Her hair was worn down, something that rarely happened as Sakura well knew. She wore a light blue mini skirt, that made her look as if she had longer legs than she truly did. Ino was actually, in reality, a bit petite, being only 5'5". On her own feet was a pair of glittered, white, flipflops, the kind with heels. Her toes were painted a pale green color that could have been a color in Sakura's eyes. Her top was very complementary to her figure. The black top she wore showed her midriff, and the small green jeweled butterfly on her bellybutton. She wore only a bit of pale blue eyeshadow on her face, bringing out the color in her eyes.

Self confidence seemed to radiate off of the blonde kunoichi.

When the three women entered the bar, looking and feeling like a hundred bucks, every male eye turned to them. Sakura shivered as she walked, oddly reminded of the first time that they had entered Konoha again. It was eerie how similar the situation was, but this time it was Ino, Yumi and herself. Hinata was off enjoying her honeymoon with Naruto.

She quickened her pace and greeted the grinning Genma with a smile as she took a seat in the seat beside him. She felt the urge to smack him as his eyes trailed over her body, soaking in her beauty. Instead, after taking a deep breath, she reahed over and pushed his eyes up to meet her own amused ones with a tap beneath his chin. He only grinned at her again, his senbon sliding to the side, and resumed looking her over. He reached down to her chest, and took hold of the necklace. With a smile of recognition, he let it fall back to her chest. She elbowed him playfully and he faced forwards, now watching her not-so-discreetly from the corner of his eye. "What's the occasion?" He asked, taking a drink of sake before turning to face her again, looking directly into her eyes this time.

"Ino wanted us to be her dollies for the day." She explained, smirking over at the said kunoichi sitting across from her. Ino only smiled pleasantly at her, obviously content to sit beside Shikamaru. Yumi, who was sitting beside Sakura, was looking rather uncomfortable. Sakura turned to face her and started up a conversation about how Ino had gotten her belly button pierced. She laughed as she told the story, fingering the small green jewel on the side of her nostril as she spoke. Theyhad all gotten something done, even Hinata. Soon, Kakashi joined in the conversation, they were talking about other things by then, and she didn't feel the least bit guilty as she turned her attention back to Genma. "Did you talk about me after I left?" She asked, flirting in her usual casual way. She was perplexed to see that his eyes took on a dazed sort of look andhe remained silent. She waited a few seconds, and then impatiently waved her hand in front of his eyes.

"Huh?" He said, snapping out of his reverie. He looked to her for a second and then said, rather softly so that even she, who was sitting beside him, could barely hear him. "You're leaving tonight... aren't you?" He looked to her, his deep eyes having tooken on a sad sort of look. His eyes seemed to bore into hers until she opened her mouth in shock.

"How did you know?" She asked in a tone to match his soft one he'd just used. Indeed, ever since she had arrived at Ino's home she had felt an overwhelming urge to take off from Konoha, almost as if she was stuck on the hook at the end of a fishing pole, and the owner was yanking her his way. She'd later decided to leave after telling Genma that night.

"I felt it." He said, standing. She followed behind him as he stepped out onto the dance floor. As if on cue, a slow song belted out from the juke box. She leaned in close to him and, feeling the heat of his breath on her ear, her heart fluttered. "How soon?" He asked into her ear. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Why did she feel so... guilty. It wasn't the same kind of guilt as she always felt when she was close to a man, it was the old kind, mixed with a new kind, concocted only for Genma.

"I don't know." She said, nuzzling into his chest. She felt a tear reach her eye and she sniffed miserably. Why was she crying? It wsn't as if she was leaving forever. It was only going to be a few months, or however long it took to find him. She dug her head into his shoulder and said softly, "Genma... You're not... In love with me are you?"

Silence. Then a soft reply, in the softest tone possible. "No." He tilted her face up to his, to make sure that he hadn't hurt her feelings. He was relieved to see that she was smiling sweetly up at him through her tears. He wiped them from her cheeks with a single finger. He smiled back and pulled her back to him. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad.. I wouldn't want to hurt you... nii-san." She said, sniffing again as the tears began to finally clear up. She felt him chuckle softly beside her ear. She had said it without thinking, but Genma seemed to think it was sweet. If he was her brother, they had one messed up relationship. She smiled against his chest. so he wasn't in love with her. She wouldn't.. or couldn't have left if she hadn't made sure of that fact.

"But if he hurts you, I'll kill him." He said, turning and dragging her towards the table again. She furrowed her eyebrows slightly. _What_? Did he know about...? No. He knew she was going to see a male, that was all. As they re-took their seats, Sakura noticed that they were getting a few weird looks from their friends. She cleared her throat and nodded to Yumi and Ino, and stood again. She walked over to an empty table and took a seat, the two women following her lead soon after.

"What's wrong Sakura?" Ino asked worriedly. She saw the tears on her friend's face and came to so many false conclusions as to the reasons for her tears. She sat there for a second, glancing at Yumi every now and then to see her reaction to the silence.

"If you stop by my place tomorrow, Genma will give you your clothes..." She said, willing herself not to start crying again. Her emotions always had been a problem in her life. Despite the fact that she had them basically under controll, tears tended to spill at times like these.

Ino furrowed her eyebrows, confused. She was silent a moment until a single word escaped her lips before understanding struck her. "Why...?" Her jaw dropped. Beside her, Yumi had a similar look. "Now?" She finally managed to ask after several seconds of stunned silence.

XXXXXXX

Sakura stepped lightly as she made her way back to her home, Genma at her side. She constantly bumped into him, swaying dangerously on her heels towards his side. They walked in silence, but somehow they were having a conversation through the quiet. As they finally arrived at the door, she fell onto the couch and pulled off the painful shoes. She stretched her toes as she removed her shirt and threw it onto the couch beside her, no londer ashamed to be seen in only her bra around her jounin friend. She stood and shuffled to her room. In a few seconds she appeared in her favorite pair of black cargoes and a red tanktop. She threw the skirt in her hands onto the couch and fell onto it beside Genma. He watched her patiently as she pulled on her boots. She looked up at him for a moment before asking quietly, "Would you do me a favor and fill my canteen?" He nodded and stood as she returned to her room. She emerged a few minutes later holding a satchel with clothes, money, and provisions. "thanks." She said quietly, taking the canteen from him and placing it into the bag.

"Don't mention it..." He said softly.

She smiled as tears began to flow down her cheeks again. She wiped them away hurriedly and said, "Why do I keep crying? It's not as if I'm not coming back..."

"Because.. You are afraid, to tell you the truth, I would be too. " He said, reaching for her. A few seconds later she was buried into his chest. "I want you to come back alive, and unscathed." He said into the top of her head.

She nodded. "I.. I need to leave now." She said softly. Stepping away from his warm protectin embrace, she wiped away her tears. "I'll be back soon." A soft kiss was laid upon his cheek and in a puff of smoke, she was gone.

Genma touched his cheek reflectively.

Lipgloss came off on his fingers, smelling of cherries.

"Don't lie to me Sakura..."

* * *

Ok. So I a going to post the next chapter soon, but I think I might come back later and revise it. (I started on it last night.) I don't know yet...

What can I say? I love over-detailing things. Besides, I should be alowed to dress up Sakura at least once. XP

So yes. Please Review.


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews!

For some reason, I can't help but think that this fic is going into a different direction than I had originally intended, but I think I can make it work. What do you think?

Sorry about this chapter being too short. I'm guilty of that more often than I'd like...

* * *

Pat. Pat. Pat

She had to move faster.

Tip pat. tip-pat.

Not fast enough, she had to keep moving!

Tip-tip-tip-tip-tip-tip-tip-tip.

There, that was good enough, for now.

The constant patter of her feet, as quiet as it might have been, seemed to become a constant sound ringing through Sakura's eardrums. She'd been on the go for four days straight without sleep, rest, or much food, and lots of water. What she did consume was while she was moving. Even if she hadn't spent all of those years studying as a medic, she'd have still known that her body couldn't take much more, but she needed to follow that pull. It yanked at her chest constantly, and as unreliable as it was, she could feel it getting stronger. It was as though her heart was telling her 'This way, come this way! You'll find what you're looking for if you come this way!' So she did. Besides, it wasn't as if she had any other leads, but now she needed a rest. She felt secure in the fact that the feeling was stronger than ever at that moment, and an hour or so of rest wouldn't hurt anything.

She bit her nails as she pondered over the thoughts floating through her ever shifting mind as she took a seat against a tree. If this was him, she'd finally be able to confront him, ask him why he'd done what he had. She could feel confident that what he'd done wasn't her fault, not in the least bit. Another thought crossed her mind, overshadowing the happier ones. This couldn't be Itachi. He was too strong to allow her to catch up to him, unless it was... a trap? But why would he care about her? She was so confused. Although there was no explanation for it, she knew, just knew, that it had to be Itachi. A sigh passed her lips and she tried to focus on something else, anything else. Of course, that didn't work. She began to think of how familiar her feelings were. She'd felt _it _before. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on trying to remember.

Memory

Forcing a false, but convincing, smile to appear on her face, she walked beside a man she utterly loathed. As anyone might know, disgust is a hard feeling to conceal, especially if you have the power to remove it from your presence. Thankfully for her, and Konoha, she kept that same, admiring smile plastered across her face.

They sat on a park bench, and Sakura again marveled at how hideous this man truly was as she kept him in conversation, mostly talking of her 'sisters'. He was a deep tan color, and then again, most people were in Suna. He had a squared jaw, and his lower jutted out farther than his upper one so that when he spoke, small amounts of saliva dribbled down his chin. His dark eyes were permanently glued to her chest, and it took everything in Sakura's power not to set his jaw in alignment with her fist. Instead, her hand constantly twitched. Oh! How much she wanted to just pull at the neck of her shirt, just to pull it up over what was exposed! But, she resisted. He was a rather large man, not fat, but big boned. He had short dark hair, to match his eyes, and very hairy arms and legs. He was disgusting, and she was reminded strongly of a well dressed caveman.

As she continued speaking about her imaginary life, a nervousness began to well up inside of her as she realized that they were totally alone, and it was unnaturally dark for that hour. Oh, how lucky she'd been on this mission. _She'd _been the one paired up with the _thing_ sitting beside her. _She'd_ been the one who had gotten the chance to acquire information if she _kissed_ that _thing_. And now, _she_ was the one who was caught in _this _situation with that _thing._ No one was walking past, for most people were inside at that hour, eating dinner with their families. He seemed to notice it too, and reached his arm around her. She froze, and then allowed, or rather forced, her body to relax. Taking a deep breath, she did her best to keep talking. Forcing herself to keep speaking was harder than it sounded.

As she spoke, she had an overwhelming urge to walk over into the trees at her right. Vaguely, she wondered if Ino had some type of summoning jutsu that she'd kept a secret until then. Standing, she said something about needing to get home, Ino was probably wondering where she was. He looked disappointed, and followed her out of the little clearing surrounded by trees that they'd been sitting in. It took all the will power she owned not to dart away with as much speed as possible. Instead, she giggled and slowly ran home.

She made herself sick.

End Memory

Sakura opened her eyes slowly.

_So... it had been in the Sand? But... he couldn't have been in the Sand, could he have?_

Her breath caught in her throat as she realized that she'd fallen asleep, and it was dusk. She could barely feel _it_. She jumped up, and used all the strength she could muster to rush into the trees and follow.

XXXXXXXXX

She gasped for breath.

Somehow...

Somehow she'd managed to catch up, in an hour and a half.

Somehow... she felt even closer than before. She'd never been one to have much stamina, and now she had to suffer the consequences of over-working her body. She felt as though a weight had been laid across each of her feet, and across her shoulders. Normally, that wouldn't have been a problem, but she was sooo worn out. She fell to her knees and squinted her deep green eyes to see up ahead.

She froze.

Her eyes widened.

Up ahead, there were two dark figures, not moving.

She'd found him! It had to be him! He had a partner, didn't he? Kissame something? And both figures were wearing dark cloaks.

Years ago, Tsunade had taught her how to store chakra in a sort of... reserve in her body. According to the Sannin, it was intended to be saved for emergencies. At that moment, Sakura considered her situation a dire emergency. She could feel the strikingly cold chakra pool around her feet before she'd even decided whether or not she was going to use it.

In seconds she was before them. She tried, with everything she could muster, to see their faces. They would probably kill her now. There was no use even trying to stay conscious. She wouldn't be able to fight them. After all, they were Akatsuki.

She fell to her knees.

"It...achi..?"

* * *

Okay! Reviews? Squeeee! 


	10. Chapter 10

Ok, so someone asked a question, but I couldn't reply, so I'm writing it in here. This way, I figure if anyone else is confused, this will answer their question.

Ok, so the man she was with in the flashback was the man she'd been tailing on that mission in Suna (Ya know, from the beginning?). I was trying to say that she felt the same feeling she was feeling now. The attraction I mean. Meaning that, if her guess that Itachi is the source of this drawing feeling, then he was there. Ok, so if you still don't understand, ask again, and I'll figure out how to explain it...

Oh yeah, I was going to make it so that she'd passed out in front of two random people, and draw the story out more, but actually, I want Itachi in this story NOW! So HERE!

* * *

Two pairs of eyes lowered their gaze to the woman at their feet.

"So, this weakling was the one who managed to follow us all this time." A low voice growled. They'd sensed someone following them since they'd passed Konoha, so they'd decided to slow down and meet the pursuer. He looked to his accomplice, and wasn't surprised as he was met with silence. He always had been the silent type. "I will dispose of her. It would take only a second."

"No."

He watched in silent amazement as Uchiha Itachi gestured for him to pick up the kunoichi on the ground. He obeyed. Perhaps it was because he knew that The Uchiha had the ability to kill him if he wished. Slinging her over his shoulder, he followed his partner back into the trees towards their destination. As he moved, he was struck with a sense of recognition. She was a kunoichi from Leaf, Haruno Sakura. The one they'd seen as they passed through Sunagakure. If he remembered correctly, she was close to the Kyuubi Jinchurinki. He recalled that Uchiha had expressed a subtle interest in her as they passed through the Sand.

"The place I was telling you of is up ahead." Kissame pointed out, and indeed it was. Earlier that year, he'd been sent out, under Itachi's orders, to find places for them to stay as they traveled. The one he was speaking of at that moment was a small building, in an even smaller town close to the edge of the Sound. It had looked to be abandoned, and it would do for that moment. "You're not planning on bringing her there, are you?"

"Yes I am. You are not to harm her. Place her in a room, and leave her alone. I will take care of everything else."

Kissame shivered. By the way he'd just said that order, Uchiha meant business. Then again, he always meant business. He made directly for a room towards the back.

The house had four small bedrooms, a tiny bathroom, and a kitchen. All the rooms were connected by a narrow hallway. He entered one, and set her onto the old musty carpet. The deep green of it contrasted magnificently with the color of her hair. Indeed, he wasn't one for women, but this one was beautiful. She had long eyelashes, smooth tan skin, fine curves, and delicate features. She looked a bit like an intricately sculpted porcelain doll. Then again, dolls were useless. A thought struck him. Maybe Uchiha wasn't only interested in the Kyuubi...

"Leave." Kissame turned to see Itachi standing in the doorway, passively staring into the room. Immediately obeying, he hid the smirk on his face and stepped out of the room. Maybe he'd get something to eat. There was nothing better to do anyway. He was itching for some action; maybe he'd go out and find a shinobi to pick on. He managed one last glance into the room, and could have sworn that he'd seen Uchiha looking to the kunoichi with a rather uncharacteristically soft look in his eye. He froze, and the door shut in his face.

XXXX

Sakura awoke with a startled gasp. A wave of hunger overcame all her thoughts, and she was thankful to see some type of soup in a bowl three feet away from her. He hungrily made her way toward it, scooting herself across the floor, and in seconds it had disappeared into her mouth.

She sighed, and surveyed her surroundings. She was in a small, dark room. The carpet was a dirty greenish color. It had limited furnishings, which included only a small coffee table to her left. She shivered. Where the hell was she?

She stood, with much effort. Pain shot through her legs, and she fell back onto the ground. Well apparently, he hadn't killed her, if it had been him even. She concentrated a small bit of her chakra to her hands, and was amazed at how easy it was to collect her chakra. She must have been out for quite a long time, for her chakra to build up so much. She forced a bit of it into her sore muscles, and was relieved as it eased most of the pain.

'Click.'

She looked to the door at the sound, and found her breath caught in her throat. She watched as her visitor shut the door behind himself, and slowly walked to her. She let her eyes take in every detail of his body. He'd discarded his cloak, and was wearing only a pair of pants. His eyes shone deep crimson, and it contrasted deeply with his long dark hair. Droplets of sweat clung to his defined chest, as well as his face. He was definitely better looking than the last time she'd seen him, or maybe it was only the absence of his cloak. Either way, she still found her heart beating just a bit too rapidly and a small blush on her cheeks.

"Why have you come?" He asked in that smooth, but quiet tone, the one that brought butterflies to her heart and stars to her eyes. She watched as he found a place, and leaned against the wall. How could this be the boy she'd met so long ago?

"I-I--- Well..." She paused. He was watching her with patience, and some sort of smirk playing in his eyes. She took a breath, and attempted to continue, "You... I... I needed to see you." She bit her lip. She hadn't meant for it to come out that way, but it had. There was nothing she could do about it now; she'd learned that with many aspects and experiences of her life in the past. She watched as he regarded her with a small smirk.

After a few moments of silence, he looked her over and asked quietly, "Can you walk?" After she nodded, he turned to the door, and opened it. "Come with me." He said, his back to her. She followed quietly behind him as he lead her down the narrow hallway, and didn't think twice about disobeying him as he stated simply, "This is the bathroom, clean up."

XXX

Drying her hair in the small towel she'd been given, she mulled over her thoughts. _What was she going to do? Would he let her leave? Did she even want to leave? What had she expected coming here? _

She sighed, and let her long vibrant pink hair fall from the towel. Her heart fell when she realized that the only clothing she had available to her were her dirty ones. Where had her bag gone?

Sighing, she wrapped her towel around her body, and poked her head out the door into the hallway.

No one.

She tip-toed to her room, and was disappointed to see that it was no where in sight. Again, she peeked out into the hallway, and again, there was no one. Silently thanking every god she knew, she tiptoed back towards the bathroom. Her dirty clothes would have to do. And then it happened, right before she'd walked into her designated room, and any trace of pride she'd kept disappeared.

Kissame stopped in his tracks. What a surprise he'd come upon, and all he'd wanted was some food. Instead, he'd gotten food, and he got to see a beautiful kunoichi scantily clothed. He smirked as she tried to strengthen her demeanor, and push away the blush painting her cheeks.

"D-do you know where Itachi is?" She asked, trying to remain calm. As his eyebrows rose, she added quietly, "I need my bag. It has my clothes in it."

"You mean the tan one?" He asked. He didn't think twice about how rough his voice sounded, it had always sounded that way. So, he was blind to the fact that he was scaring the holy shit out of her.

"Y-yes."

"It got caught on my Samehada, and I took it back to my room." He stepped past her, and she watched him enter the room across from the bathroom. The truth was, he was going to be nice to her, even if it pained him terribly. If she was on Itachi's good side, he had to be. Besides, he hadn't noticed that he'd had the bag until the morning after they'd taken her in. It had been three days, but he hadn't even thought of approaching Itachi. He returned from his room, and handed her the bag. She bowed, and he shook his head. "Don't do that."

She blushed, and hurried into the bathroom.

He shook his head. If he'd been rude in any way, and she happened to tell Uchiha, it wouldn't be pretty. There was something going on in his partner's brain, and he wasn't going to intrude. Especially if it involved something like a woman. They'd made a silent agreement years ago. They wouldn't talk about anything other than business.

He shivered, and stumbled into his room. Just as he was about to close the door, he saw the kunoichi standing in the hallway. He eyed her for a second, and then asked, "What?" She'd been staring at him. All his life people had stared at him, and it angered him beyond measure when he happened to catch someone doing the same thing.

"N-nothing. Where's Itachi?"

"I have no idea. We tend to stay away from one another while we aren't traveling." He growled.

"But aren't you Kissame?" She asked, her finely shaped eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Yes."

"Aren't you... friends?"

"Friends?" He chuckled a bit to himself. Wow. This woman knew nothing about Uchiha. He, himself had never had any friends, and every time he heard the word, he felt the urge to break out into laughter. "Kunoichi, I have no friends, nor does Itachi. We are partners, it ends there."

Her deep green eyes widened, and she muttered a soft, "Oh... Never mind then."

She guessed she'd just sit in her room until he came to her again.

Okay. I don't know why, but I find it easiest to write in Sakura's point of view. So, if this chapter turned out horrible, just stop reading, I don't min. The truth is, if you found this chapter terrible, you'll probably find them all terrible. No, it should get better than this. Seriously. At least, I think so.

So... yes.

Reviews? Anyone?

PLEASE?


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